Happy Independence Day

I was going to write something, but, as usual, Newscoma says it better.  I want you to go over there and read what she has written; it gives us hope at a time when many people think it no longer exists.

OK, when WRESTLING ANNOUNCERS are attacking the GOP

You know the Goopers have lost their mojo.

Listen to these two wonderful rants by announcer Jim Cornette (you Memphis wrestling fans should remember him) as he attacks another announcer for right-wing views. Caution: language is NSFW, use the headphones.

Part 1

Part 2

This is awesome, hat tip to Mickey for sending! That's where the above quote comes from!

Oh, and I agree with every word he says.

This Land is YOUR Land

I saw this and had to put it up. Lauren is doing as well as can be expected, thanks to all of you.

This is from yesterday's concert, with perhaps our greatest living folksinger, Pete Seeger. This is for Lauren, this is for me, this is for all of us.

This year is finally over, and not a second too soon.

Before I begin my year-end round-up, Vibinc and I joined other bloggers in NashVegas last night to meet with the candidates for TDP Chair.  GoldnI and Aunt B. have the best reports, so I am sending you to them to get a feel for what happened.  Vibinc may have something up later.

Now then, other than Election Day (outside Tennessee) and the World Series (OK, so I've got a soft spot for the Phils these days), can we agree that this year truly, madly, deeply SUCKED?  

As the economy crept toward disaster, with the Bushies doing nothing until the bubbles all burst, our retirements evaporated, many lost jobs and those that didn't lost pay for the future.  Oh well, 95% is better than 0%, eh?  Happy Holidays!

Then on top of that, since Bush and Cheney failed to get us in a war with Iran, it seems that Israel is making a late effort to see that we go there; thanks, old friend!  You know, I firmly believe in Israel's right to exist, but I also believe in the Palestinians' right to exist there, too, and that DOESN'T make me the bastard child of Martin Bormann, folks.  This is not of the good, as our beloved Newscoma would say.

What I AM hoping for in the New Year:

1) That January 20 arrives before we find ourselves in WW IV.

2) That President Obama channels FDR, not Hoover, taking the actions to create jobs and wealth.

3) That I still have a job with the same pay at this time next year.

4) That the Republicans finally understand the difference between CREATING wealth and HOARDING wealth (not at all hopeful on that one, folks).

5) That we survive this coming year with our health and our hopes and our lives intact.

6) That Bush, Cheney and the rest get sent to The Hague for war crimes trials.  Hell no, I ain't forgettin'!

7) That we all pull together to get through all of this crap in front of us.  Remember, it took Bush eight years to destroy the Clinton prosperity and then some, so it will take a long time to rebuild America, please don't give up hope.

8) Which is not to say you shouldn't call bullshit if you see it!

OK, that's it, I will see you NEXT year!

Well, my mood just lightened!

They finally nailed that crook Rod Blagojevich in Illinois!  Woo-Hoo!

More here from the Trib and the Sun-Times.

Here's the full complaint, via CBS2.

Now, for those of you are saying, uh, Cracker, he's a Democrat, why are you happy, let me say that first, he's an idiot who has been mismanaging the state and been engaged in a moronic feud with House Speaker Mike Madigan for the duration of his time as Governor.  Second, he refused to move to Springfield, where the Governor's Mansion is located, third, he shows the petulance of a Democratic version of Bush, and fourth, we KNEW he was a crook, we were hoping that something would bring him down.

On top of all that, his replacement, Lt. Governor Pat Quinn, is a reformer's reformer and a progressive's progressive.  Pat Quinn is OUR kind of Democrat, folks, so this will be a win-win for my old home state.

I hope they throw Blagojevich UNDER the jail, the punk!  WOO-HOO!

Wind farming comes to Lee County, IL

Photo by LeftWingCracker

As Lauren and I entered Lee County this evening near Sublette, IL, we saw these spectacular wind turbines rising some 90 feet in the air, and it was an awesome spectacle. I will have more photos from the digital camera later, this was taken from my cell phone. My nephew tells me that each blade is approximately 53 feet long. Amazing.

There are 15 such wind turbines, with more being built as we speak; once we can make such energy sources more efficient, it can help reduce the cost of energy and reduce, hopefully, our dependence on fossil fuels for heating, cooling and powering our homes, scvholls and businesses.

Now, THIS is an endorsement

With a hat tip to Joe Sudbay at AmericaBlog, here is the Philly Daily News endorsement of Barack Obama:

VOTE FOR BARACK OBAMA

THE CHOICE in Tuesday's Democratic presidential
primary is not only the one between a white woman and a black man. It's a choice between the past and the future.

More specifically, the nation must decide how to face the future racing toward us in the form of slumping home sales, unstable financial markets and increased joblessness - and staring at us from the Green Zone in Iraq and the beds at veterans hospitals.

Should Democrats choose someone who will employ hard-won - even bitter - experiences gained in a past Democratic administration, or reach beyond political truisms toward a new (and untried) model of governing?

Neither choice is obvious. Perhaps that's why the race has gone on for so long.

But the long slog through 44 primaries and caucuses has confirmed for us that Sen. Barack Obama's vision of change - and the way he plans to pursue it - is what we need right now. Badly.

This is a campaign that really began six years ago, on Sept. 11, 2001. Not only was the U.S. attacked and seriously wounded, it did not bounce back the way "the land of the free and home of the brave" should have. In fact, it still suffers from post-traumatic stress.

That day and its aftermath cried out for a revolution of values: a clear-eyed shared vision, a cooperative effort, a unified purpose. It cried out for a recognition that conventional warfare and conventional responses to domestic challenges in an era of globalization were not enough.

That cry was not answered.

Instead, the Bush administration embarked on an unconscionable plan to exploit the fear we all felt that day for political gain. It lied us into a disastrous war in Iraq, a staggering, record deficit at home, a weakening of the constitutional structure on which the country rests, and poisonous lines of division among Americans. It led us to a place where 81 percent of Americans say we're on the wrong track.

Contrary to Sen. Hillary Clinton's campaign slogan, we believe Barack Obama is more likely to be "ready on Day One" to lead us in a new direction. Because of his experience.

Sure, Clinton has more "experience" of a sort. For one thing, she has 14 more years on earth. How much of this experience is directly applicable to the job of president is, at best, debatable.

We are frankly troubled by her assumption that her husband's administration and accomplishments were her own. And if her equation holds, that the first spouse is an equal partner in the administration, then the reappearance of Bill Clinton in the White House is a prospect we have a hard time reconciling with the work that needs to be done.

THERE IS a way to match Clinton's and Obama's performances on a relatively equal playing field: their campaigns.

A candidate's campaign may be the best indicator of how she or he will govern. If so, an Obama administration would be well-managed, inclusive and astonishingly broad-based. It would make good use of technology and communicate a message of unity and, yes, hope.

It would not be content with eking out slim victories by playing to the narrow interests of the swing voters of the moment while leaving the rest of the country as deeply divided as ever. Instead, an Obama administration would seek to expand the number of Americans who believe that they have a personal stake in our collective future - and that they have the power to change things.

It would motivate them to hold their representatives accountable for
making it happen. That is, after all, the only way to get us out of Iraq, to
address global warming, to make us energy-independent. It's the only way to resist the forces arrayed against providing universal health care, rebuilding our infrastructure and returning our schools to world-class status. It's the only way to give our children the means to compete with children in other parts of the world who are healthier, better-educated and have more opportunities than many of our own.

An Obama administration would be freer of the corrupting influence of big-money donors and corporate interests. Obama has raised $240 million overall, with half coming in contributions of less than $200. People who contribute to political campaigns can feel they "own" a
candidate and so Obama would owe allegiance to the wide swath of America that has financed his campaign.

Based on his experience in running a quarter-billion-dollar enterprise with thousands upon thousands of volunteers, we could expect an Obama administration to be well-managed and cost-effective, with the president choosing forward-thinking advisers committed to his program, demanding that they work as a team and pay attention to details.

He would be steady and calm, given neither to irrational exuberance or outbursts of anger. He would make mistakes, that's for sure, but he could be expected to recognize them, adjust, and move forward.

He would adjust his views to reality rather than trying to adjust reality to his views.

Obama's unprecedented appeal to younger voters is significant not only because it expands the electorate, which is vital. It's also a validation of his promise as a president to be free of the baby-boomer/Vietnam/segregation-era hangups.

Younger people are more egalitarian, more accepting of diversity, and more comfortable with rapid change. They also are less confined by old resentments or regrets.

AND AN OBAMA administration would lower the tone of the rhetoric that separates us.

As New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson has said, Obama is a
once-in-a-lifetime candidate who has the skill and eloquence to help us raise our eyes and our aspirations beyond individual, personal concerns, beyond religion or region or race or gender, beyond our well-founded fears to a shared destiny.

Most candidates claim that they will change the way business is
done in Washington. Barack Obama has made us believe that, yes, he can. *

In case you had forgotten why you live in Memphis..

The fabulous fearlessvk points us to this remarkable photographic ode to Memphis, all sections of it, in fact. Do yourself a favor on this day, when we remember a fallen leader who lost his life here, and remind yourself that there are LOTS of great reasons to live here.